*You must be signed-in to edit. If you haven't previously registered, [[FamilySearch Wiki:Registration Demo|click here]] to register.

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*You must be signed-in to edit. If you haven't previously registered, [[FamilySearch Wiki:Registration Demo|click here]] to register.

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*The Wiki allows you to edit in a "WYSIWYG" (What You See Is What You Get) environment somewhat like a word processing program. The editor has a limited set of formatting features which are common to word processors, along with features that are unique to working in the Wiki environment (see [[Help:The Editing Tool (FCK Editor)|Intermediate editing]] for explanations of all features).

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*To edit a page in the Wiki, you must click on the '''Edit This Page''' button on the top right of the page. You may also edit only one section of a page by clicking on the '''Edit''' button to the top right of the section heading.

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*You may [[Share your knowledge by adding to the Wiki|add to or edit a page]] in the Wiki. You may also [[Help:Copying and Pasting into a Wiki Page|copy and past into a Wiki page]].

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[[Image:Wiki toolbar.jpg|border|left|450px|Wiki toolbar.jpg]]<br>

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*You must click the '''Save page''' button at the bottom of the editing page to save your work.<br>

*You must click the '''Save page''' button at the bottom of the editing page to save your work.&nbsp;<br>

*You may sometimes encounter "disgruntled" or even "mean" people on the Wiki. Please read the Wiki [[FamilySearch Wiki:Policies|policies]] and [[FamilySearch Wiki:Guiding Principles|guiding principles]] to learn how to deal with such situations or receive help in the [http://forums.familysearch.org/en/forumdisplay.php?f=56 FamilySearch Wiki Forums].

*You may sometimes encounter "disgruntled" or even "mean" people on the Wiki. Please read the Wiki [[FamilySearch Wiki:Policies|policies]] and [[FamilySearch Wiki:Guiding Principles|guiding principles]] to learn how to deal with such situations or receive help in the [http://forums.familysearch.org/en/forumdisplay.php?f=56 FamilySearch Wiki Forums].

Revision as of 22:48, 8 December 2012

This help article will guide you as you edit in the Wiki. See Contributor Help for more help articles.

General Editing Basics

You must be signed-in to edit. If you haven't previously registered, click here to register.

To edit a page in the Wiki, you must click on the Edit This Page button on the top right of the page. You may also edit only one section of a page by clicking on the Edit button to the top right of the section heading.

Editing rules, editing conventions, and formatting

The number one rule of wiki editing, is to be bold. Dive in and make changes. Other people can correct mistakes later, so have confidence, and give it a try! There can be all kinds of editing conventions, rules, and philosophy governing the editing of wiki pages, but the "be bold" rule overrides these!

In general try to write clearly and concisely and make sure you are always aiming to do something which improves the wiki contents. An edit might be to contribute whole paragraphs or pages full of information, or it could be as simple as fixing a typo or spelling mistake.

When you need to use some type of formatting e.g. new headings or bold text, you do this using wiki syntax. See Help:Formatting for some of the common types of formatting used.

6. While editing, use the Show Preview button frequently. This allows you to review the edits and changes you've made and prevents your wiki session from timing out after twenty minutes of no activity. If your session times out, you will lose all the work you've done.

We recommend you Save your work periodically, especially before you start reading reference material, after you enter a paragraph, or in stages while working on a time intensive task such as creating a table or list.

7. After making any changes, be sure to summarize your changes in the Summary field below the editor window, and then save your work.

To save, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save page button. WARNING: If you navigate away from your article without saving, your work will be lost. This includes clicking on links in the preview mode, and clicking the back button on your browser after saving. Remember, after saving the page, you may click the Edit link again to add or edit more material.

Edit Summary

Before you save a change, you can enter a short note in the Summary: box describing your changes. Don't worry too much about this, or spend too much time thinking about it, but try to give a little description of what you just changed e.g. "fixed typo" or "added more information about sunflowers".

The summary gets stored alongside your edit, and allows people to track changes in the wiki more effectively.

Preview

It's a good idea to use the “Show preview” button to see what your change will look like, before you save it. This is also related to tracking changes because every time you save, this is displayed to others as a separate change. This isn't something to worry about too much, but it's good to get into the habit of eliminating mistakes in your own work, by using a preview before saving, rather than saving several minor corrections afterwards. Be sure to click on the Save button at the bottom of the page after you preview or you will lose your edits.

Save

Be sure to save all of your edits by clicking on the Save button under the bottom left hand corner of the edit box. If you are doing extensive editing, it is a good idea to save your work periodically so you don't risk losing it. Remember, previewing your changes does not save them, you must still click on the Save button.